Bill Keating was born in Norwood, Mass., and currently lives in Sharon. He received both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Boston College. He received a law degree from Suffolk University.

Keating served as Norfolk district attorney in Massachusetts, where he focused both on white-collar criminals and cybercrime.

He served as a state senator at the Massachusetts Statehouse, where he focused on toughening consumer protection laws, cracking down on drug traffickers and passing environmental protections.

He was elected to the U.S. House in 2010.

Keating and his wife, Tevis, have two children.

Bill Keating faces Republican challenger Chris Sheldon in the November 2012 election. He's defending his seat in Massachusetts' redrawn 9th Congressional District, which retains Cape Cod but now extends west to the fishing port of New Bedford.

Keating was a longtime member of the Massachusetts Senate before serving as Norfolk district attorney for more than a decade. In 2010, he won the congressional seat vacated by retiring Rep. William Delahunt.

Keating touts constituent services as a hallmark of his congressional record. He says he handled 1,000 constituent cases in his first term and set up a "Breakfast with Bill" program to meet with local residents. He also points to his work on a deal that will convert the South Weymouth Naval Air Station into a residential and commercial community. He said the project will create 10,000 jobs, including temporary construction jobs and permanent positions.

With local fishermen struggling, Keating formed a Federal Fishing Advisory Board, made up of fishermen, scientists and other officials, to advise federal fishery managers.

He's been an advocate for the Cape Wind project, a controversial project in Nantucket Sound that aims to be the nation's first offshore wind farm. He also criticized the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its approval of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station's operating license, saying there were pending safety and environmental concerns.

"It sets a dangerous precedent and highlights the fact that our current system for relicensing our nuclear power plants is in desperate need of reform," he said.

Keating supports the 2010 health care reform law, but he voted to repeal a provision he believed would burden local businesses.

He touts his 100 percent rating from the pro-abortion rights group NARAL, and voted against legislation that would have cut off federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

In 2011, Keating traveled to the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, as part of the first congressional delegation to Pakistan after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden there.

He has advocated U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as soon as it can be safely done, and voted for legislation that would have diverted money from the war effort to troops adjusting to life back in the U.S.